License plates are typically attached by screwing them onto the rear of the vehicle. Although this keeps the license plate securely attached to the vehicle when driving, screwing and unscrewing license plates gets cumbersome when the plates need to be removed or replaced over and over. Car dealers, for example, are constantly placing temporary plates on their cars prior to test drives. Needing to screw a temporary tag onto a car prior to a test drive is time-consuming and inefficient.
Vehicle dealers avoid this problem by attaching a temporary license plate holder to the vehicle. The license plate holder is temporarily affixed to the car so that the dealer can easily attach and remove the dealer plate from the vehicle without screwing it on. One temporary means of attachment is a magnet affixed to the dealer plate, which is used by attaching the magnet to a steel part of the vehicle.
This attachment means has some considerable drawbacks. One drawback is that the magnet slides against the steel part of the vehicle to which it is attached, scraping the vehicle and damaging its decorative finish. Another drawback is that modern car bodies and bumpers may not be made out of steel, leaving the magnet nowhere to stick.